Changing Myself
by Fullmetal Ai
Summary: [For Songbird21] It was so out of character for him to even think of it, but he did. [LeeSaku]


When the subject was first brought up, Tenten had choked on her food. Neji's expression (while gently patting his female teammate on the back to aid in helping her regain her normal breathing pattern) was as Lee had expected; a frown on his face, brows furrowed to show his disapproval. Gai's eyes had widened slightly but for once, he was speechless. It was as if even _he_ couldn't believe the state his student must have been in to even _suggest_ something so drastic. It was so unlike the usual, enthusiasm that Lee showed; nobody in team Gai liked it.

After Lee had voiced his thoughts, his plan, there followed an uncomfortable silence among the team, only broken occasionally by a cough from Tenten's end. Lee fidgeted, but knew exactly what he was going to do. He wasn't about to let anyone's opinions change his mind ... not even those of his own sensei.

"Lee," Tenten finally spoke, recovering after several moments of coughing during the excruciating silence that had fell over the entire team, "forgive me for saying this, but don't be so stupid." Lee frowned. Neji nodded his head in agreement and Tenten continued.

"_No_ girl, no matter how pretty, smart, talented _or_ kind she may be, is worth changing yourself so much." Neji stared after Tenten had finished voicing her opinions on the matter. Lee knew that look all too well; it could only mean that Neji was agreeing with the weapons expert. Lee crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the ground.

"When we first met, Sakura-san mentioned that my eyes were strange. Maybe if I-"

"But what are you going to do if she _doesn't_ fall into your arms full of love and admiration for you and all of your changes?!" Neji now had to hold Tenten back from slapping the much needed sense into her teammate.

"It just doesn't work that way, Lee! If you want a girl to love you, you have to continue being yourself. If she doesn't like you for who you are, she's not worth your love anyway!" Tenten tried a little harder to get to Lee, reaching her hand out to attempt to slap his cheek.

"Let me go, Neji!" Her thrashing had gotten so bad at that time that Neji had to wrap his arms around the girl's waist and pull her back to her seat, next to him.

"Tenten, that's enough," Neji said, a tone of warning lacing his voice, "If this is what Lee wants, let him see the results for himself." Tenten sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring angrily at Neji, who still held her to her place.

"I'm trying to keep him from doing something he's going to regret!"

"Listen to Neji, Tenten," Gai finally spoke, bringing himself out of his stupor in time to put an end to the argument. All three younger members of team Gai fell silent. Then, Gai stood up.

"Neji, Tenten, continue with your lunch. Lee, come with me." All members nodded, Neji and Tenten obeying and returning to eating, while Lee stood, following his role model and sensei like a neglected puppy. Gai led Lee to a private area of the training ground, away from the ears of his other two teammates. He stopped after a few moments of walking, turning to Lee with an indescribable expression evident on his face.

"So, Lee. You've made up your mind, have you?" Lee nodded.

"It's been on my mind for a while now, Sensei. I've finally decided to go with what my heart tells me to do." Gai was silent once again, his mouth set in a thin, straight line. In the back of his mind, Lee felt that his Sensei's silence was disturbing, yet he made no motion to begin the conversation again. He didn't have to, however; after another moment, Gai had recollected himself enough to begin speaking once more.

"Tenten has a point, you know ... and you must take into consideration that she _is_ female." Lee nodded. Another silence.

"Is there nothing I can say to convince you not to do it?" Lee remained quiet before uttering a strangely soft "No, Sensei." Gai sighed, then placed a large hand on his student's shoulder.

"Then I won't even try." Lee looked up into the smiling face of his sensei, a confused expression overtaking his features. Gai chuckled, going on to explain.

"You're old enough to be making decisions for yourself, Lee. What kind of man would I be if I were to try and keep you from doing what you think is best?" A relieved, happy smile broke out onto Lee's face and his tears began to well up. As he became awash with emotion, Lee wrapped his arms tightly around his sensei's middle, burying his face into his chest.

"Gai-sensei! Thank you!" He cried. Gai returned the hug, a low chuckle emitting from his throat once more.

"Just know that you must live with the consequenses if your plan doesn't work, Lee." Lee pulled away, nodding and wiping a stray tear from his eye.

"Yes, Sensei! I will live with the consequenses, if I fail or succeed!" Gai now bellowed with laughter, giving his young student a thumbs-up.

"That's my boy! Now get back to lunch! Eat, then we'll be back to training!" Lee turned, already running in place.

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" And with that, he sped off. Gai sighed to himself, beginning to run after his student. _He doesn't know what he's doing._

---

Rock Lee sat upright in bed, a light blue hospital gown draped over his muscular frame. His hands grasped the white sheets he was currently waist-down enveloped in. A nervous smile was plastered onto his face; starched white bandages covered his eyes. He sighed. Waiting was always such a nervewracking event ... but a part of him knew that after the bandages were removed, there would be a completely new Rock Lee underneath.

Or at least, a partially new Rock Lee.

The sound of light footsteps reached his ears, his door opening soon after. Lee's head remained still; after all, what good would it do to turn it? He couldn't see. The footsteps brought their owner closer, the sound echoing within the off-white walls of the room. Finally, they stopped.

"Lee." Lee felt himself grinning at the sweet, familliar voice that reached his ears.

"Sakura-san! Oh, how I long to--"

"Lee, I want to know why you're doing this." Lee abruptly stopped his tirade of compliments, shocked for a moment before the grin returned to his face, this time with a solemn undertone.

"If you really want to know, Sakura-san, it was for you." She was silent then, the only sound coming from her being the sound of erratic breathing. Lee felt his grin become a frown.

"Sakura-sa--"

"Lee, you didn't have to do it for me. No, you _shouldn't_ have done it for me."

"Sakura--"

"_This isn't a game, Lee!_" Sakura screeched, placing petite hands on his shoulders and staring straight into his face. Lee couldn't see her face, but he could only guess that it wasn't a sight he wanted to see ever in his entire life. They were silent for a few moments before Sakura's grip loosened and she sat herself down on the bed next to him. Lee was the first to break the thick silence that hung between them.

"I know this isn't a game, Sakura-san. I thought that maybe if you knew just how serious I was about you ..." He stopped, unable to say anything further. It wasn't nessecary; Sakura nodded her head, though she knew he couldn't see it.

"This is ... _really_ what you want?" Sakura asked softly, placing her hand gently on top of his. Lee nodded almost immediately.

"Whether I fail or succeed, I will live with the consequenses." He had been telling himself this for the past month, it seemed. With another sigh and a squeeze of his hand, Sakura stood.

"All right, then," She said, her voice shifting into an official tone, "Are you ready to have the bandages removed?" Lee's grin finally returned. Sakura had never been more relieved to see him smile.

"Of course! I've been longing for this day since--" Lee was cut off by the sound of a soft laugh and a tug on his bandages.

"Good to see you're so enthusiastic," Sakura commented, slender fingers gently working at the knot that tied the bandages together at the back of his head. She bit her lip, tugging the strips of starched white one last time and dropping them to reveal ...

Sakura gasped, bringing her fingers to her lips.

She was certain that this was no longer Rock Lee.

---

**Author's Jabber**: This is a request written for a relatively new friend of mine, Songbird21. :3 She's the writer of the absolutely gorgeous Colors of Life and Death series, which is most definitely worth a read for those who _haven't _read it. In any case, I do believe this is my first time venturing into the Naruto section of ff(dot)net! Hello! I wasn't expecting this to be my first fanfiction into this section, but i'm glad that it was. This turned out to be one fanfiction that i'm quite proud of. n.n

I hope everyone who reads this enjoyed the storyline, which was supplied by Song. :D It's so different, I loved it almost instantly! I do have a request, however. Before you review (IF you do), try to keep an open mind; if you didn't like it, then don't review saying that you didn't. If you have any suggestions for making anything better, those are always accepted with open arms. Flames are used to make s'mores, let's keep it that way. Thank you for reading!


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